- This topic has 5 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 12 years, 8 months ago by .
-
Topic
-
The Body Corporate in our building has ruled that the electrical switch room be locked at all times and keys are restricted to the strata managers and certain committee members. In the event of an emergency call out out of hours for an electrician, the strata electrician has to be called to open the room before your elected electrician can attend to the emergency. The owner is therefore charged two call out fees for two electricians. This does not sound fair or legal to me and I would appreciate some feedback on where the owner stands in this regard.
-
Replies
-
If the switch room contains meters, it has to be accessable to the supply authority to read the meters.
There is a “standard” key that should fit all switch rooms, and all electricians should have a copy of it.
If the SM or OC has changed this lock and the meter readers can’t get in, then your bills might be “guesstimates”.
There might also be issues during a fire or other emergency if emergency services can’t get access using the standard key.
If they have changed the lock and you have to get a SM contarctor, then perhaps the OC should pay the cost
Your Owners Corporation is right!
The electrical switch room and everything in it (e.g. meters/fuses/switches) is Common Property, so all necessary repairs therein are entirely the responsibility of the Owners Corporation, and there's no need for Owners or their Electrical Tradespeople to have access.
There are limited circumstances when an electrician, having assessed fault/s within a Unit and its electrical sub-board (all Owners' responsibility), wants to check the Unit's main supply in the Meter Room. In these circumstances, I've never found an electrician who didn't have the Master Key issued by the local Supply Authority.
Hi All,
When I first moved into our building the meter and switch rooms did not have locks. There was some measure of tampering with lighting on Common Property etc by residents and also dumping of rubbish in these rooms which is a fire hazard. I organised for locks to be installed. The locks have a key called an NMB key which is standard to all electricians, firemen and some other tradespeople. This means that any qualified electrician, meter reader or emergency service always has access.
Cheers
CBF
MargieD,
Does the electrical switch room contain the circuit breakers for yours (and other) units or do you have a switchboard in your unit?
If it contains your circuit breakers, and a lock has been put on which you don't have the key for, may not comply with the Australian Standards which state you must have 'ready access' to your electrical isolators/circuit breakers at all times.
If the switchroom just containes the meters and main 'building' isolation switches, then the Owners Corporation has done the right thing.
It seems not everyone has current standard wiring and an up-to-date board with circuit breakers inside their unit. I get occasional requests 'out of hours' to let people into the switch room because a failed appliance has cut their power off completely. I am not an electrician, but it seems a good quality individual circuit breaker should deal with the problem inside the apartment; if they have to get to the main switchboard (which I regard as a backup and a last resort), then they probably have a problem with the individual unit's wiring, which needs urgent attention beyond resetting the circuit breaker on the main switchboard. Perhaps a FlatChatter who is an electrician can comment – and put me right if necessary.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.